Stained Glass Sugar Cookies

Our Stained Glass Sugar Cookies can be made two ways: with a colorful hard candy center, or with a translucent, glass-like center made with isomalt. These make for the most gorgeous homemade cookie ornaments and they're a fun project for kids and adults alike!

I'll be honest, decorating sugar cookies has never been my strong suit. I always go in with super high expectations for myself and end up disappointed. (I'll blame my Instagram algorithm for my unrealistic standards!)

These cookies are a bit more my speed. You still get to roll out the dough and cut it into fun shapes, but instead of toiling over hours of royal icing and sprinkles, it only takes a few minutes to make these look absolutely stunning.

Since you cut out the center of each cookie, I wouldn't say these are the ~best~ cookie for eating. (The jolly rancher ones, sure! But the isomalt version – not so much.) But, they do make for a gorgeous ornament!

We hang ours from a garland over our kitchen sink window. On a sunny day, they catch the light beautifully and just add so much joy to my day! They're also lovely on a Christmas tree (but keep them out of reach of any pets).

This recipe is part of our 2025 Recipe Advent Calendar. If you missed the first few posts, try our Homemade Ferrero Rocher or our Pretzel Peanut Brittle next!

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• What You Need To Make This Recipe
• How to Make this Recipe
• Storage
• Lexi's Best Tips and Tricks
• More Holiday Cookie Recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Reviews

What You Need To Make This Recipe

• Sugar cookies: We use our basic sugar cookie dough for this recipe, which is just all-purpose flour, sugar, butter, eggs, baking powder, vanilla extract and salt. If you want to make them vegan, use this recipe.
• Hard candies: If you want to eat these cookies, use hard candies instead of isomalt for the filling! We use Jolly Ranchers in a variety of colors (particularly red, green and blue) and smash them into a fine dust for filling the center of each cookie.
• Isomalt: This is for the clear, ornament version. Isomalt can be a bit tricky to work with, so be prepared for a project if you go this route! They do look stunning, though.
• Rosemary & dried cranberries: To make a holly leaf decoration in the center of each isomalt cookie ornament, we use two small sprigs of fresh rosemary, and 3 dried cranberries. We dry our own in a dehydrator (they look so pretty! See instructions here.). You can also use pink peppercorns or round red sprinkles like this.

How to Make this Recipe

Scroll down to the bottom of this post for the full recipe with ingredient quantities. Use the guide below for a visual reference.

Make the sugar cookie dough

Add butter, sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl (or stand mixer). Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing just until combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3-4 batches, until the dough comes together. Cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350˚F and line two sheet pans with parchment paper. Divide the dough in half. On a floured surface, roll ½ of the dough out into a ¼-inch thick rectangle.

Cut out your desired shapes – we used a round cookie cutter, a snowflake and an ornament. Cut smaller shapes out from the center of each cookie (for example, a smaller snowflake, a smaller circle, or small star shapes). If you want to make ornaments, pierce a hole in the top of each cookie with a skewer.

How to make the hard candy (colored glass) cookies:

Transfer the cutouts to the prepared sheet pan, leaving 1-2 inches of space in between each cookie (they will spread slightly in the oven). Fill the center of each cookie with finely crushed hard candies, filling about ¾ of the way full.

Bake for about 8 minutes, until the bottom is very lightly browned and the candy is completely melted. This may take 1-2 minutes more or less depending on how thick you rolled your cookies. Keep a close eye on the oven – the candy can burn very quickly! Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet to set the candy. If you're making ornaments, reinforce the hole by with a skewer right after they come out of the oven.

How to make the isomalt (clear glass) cookies:

Transfer the cutouts to the prepared sheet pan, leaving 1-2 inches of space in between each cookie (they will spread slightly in the oven). Bake for about 8 minutes, until the bottom is very lightly browned. This may take 1-2 minutes more or less depending on how thick you rolled your cookies.

Once cooled, transfer the cookies to a silicone baking mat over a heat proof cutting board. Prepare several small sprigs of rosemary (you'll need two per cookie) and 3 dried cranberries, pink peppercorns or round sprinkles for each cookie.

Add the isomalt crystals to a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Don't stir, but you can gently swirl the pot as they start to melt to make sure it melts evenly. It will take about 5 minutes to melt into a clear liquid. Remove from heat. If there are bubbles, let them settle before pouring.

Carefully (the isomalt is very hot – it's best to wear safety gloves) pour the isomalt into the center of each cookie, until it fills the entire cavity. I do about 3 cookies at a time, then pause to add decorations before the isomalt sets.

Using tweezers or a long skewer, carefully arrange the rosemary, making sure all of the rosemary is touching the isomalt (otherwise it will brown), then arrange 3 dried cranberries in the center.

If you're making ornaments, string twine through the hole at the top, then tie it into a knot. Hang on a tree or garland!

Storage

Storage: If you're eating these cookies (the hard candy version), keep them stored in an airtight container with parchment paper between each layer of cookies to prevent the hard candy from sticking. They will last for 1-2 weeks at room temperature, or 3 months in the freezer. 

For the isomalt ornament version, they will last for months. We've already had ours hanging from our garland for over a month, and they look as good as day 1. (Of course, do not eat these!) 

Lexi's Best Tips and Tricks

• Safety comes first with isomalt! It's best to keep melted isomalt away from children, as it gets extremely hot and is tricky to work with. Wear heat proof safety gloves, and use kitchen tweezers or a long skewer/toothpick to arrange the rosemary and cranberries in your melted isomalt.
• Keep a close eye on the oven: If your oven runs hot or has any hot spots, you'll want to keep a very close eye on these cookies. The hard candies can go from perfectly melted to burnt very quickly!

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